First Impressions
by St.Memoria
Summary: The continuation of the story picks up when Eric gets some pleasant surprises. (Rating: M:Some Language and suggestive themes) (Series will pick up into the M rating.) Disclaimer: I only own Eric Valentine, everyone else is not my property.


Previously: Eric was set to make his debut, before hand he met Dean Ambrose, who had confidence in Eric to perform well. Eric seemed to have a lot of anxiety, but he stood unshaken in front of the crowd. His match with Cody went in Eric's favor, forcing Cody to tap out to his submission, The Desert Rose.

After the handshake, Cody left the ring. Eric stood in the middle of the ring, proud and full of energy. An production member came to ringside and had a microphone in his hand. Eric glanced over, and happily went over and grabbed the microphone. The crowd started to cheer loudly, louder than he had ever heard. Going back to the middle of the ring, he attempted to speak but could only smile at how enthusiastic the crowd was. Finally after some silence, he put the mic to his mouth.

"I have to admit," he began, "I didn't expect you guys to be so full, of energy and spunk."

Eric smiled at the cheers again. "But let me officially say this, it feels so damn good, to be here on RAW, and officially be apart of the main roster." Eric stated enthusiastically. The crowd, as the always do with someone they like, replied with loud cheering.

"But you see, I still have a lot to learn. As some of you know, I was a two time NXT Tag Champ with the incredible Sami Zayn." The crowd lost it at that point. Eric smiled and laughed. "Oh and it gets better, I still have the longest reign as NXT Champion, to this day!" The crowd then replied with the loudest cheers possible, and chanting "Sidewinder, Sidewinder!", over and over again.

"I already love you guys." Eric replied to the crowd. "But I assure, I may win, I may lose, but no matter what, you will see The Sidewinder, at his best, his worst, and at his scariest. Count on it." After the statement he dropped the microphone and left the ring listening to the crowd.

"Well ladies and gentlemen,The Sidewinder has spoken." Michael stated firmly.

"Yes he has Michael," replied Jerry. "He clearly has not come to mess around, he's here for strictly business."

Backstage, Eric was greeted by Dean. "You certainly made short work of Cody their kid." He said to Eric with a great tone of surprise. Eric grabbed a napkin and wiped sweat from his brow.

"Thanks Dean. I must saw, I was surprised how I performed. I thought I'd have first day jitters but I just did what I do best, and that's kick ass." Eric retorted happily, grabbing a granola bar and opening it. Dean laughed and patted him on the back.

"Keep that attitude kid and you will go far. Trust me." Dean stated in reply. He then went down the halls and disappeared. Eric smiled and bit off some of his granola bar. Suddenly he heard foot steps behind him, he quickly turned around and saw Mark Carrano with a smile on his face.

"Eric, congratulations on your first win. You performed great tonight." He said sticking his hand out. Eric shook his hand and smiled. "Thank you Carrano. So what's next for me on my big adventure?" Eric asked anxiously, feeling the fire ignite inside again. Carrano chuckled lightly. Eric hoped that wasn't a bad sign.

"Well you're not scheduled to be on SmackDown till next week, so you have the rest of the week off till Monday. If you want, I can arrange an interesting match for you next Monday."

Carrano said, voice full of interest. Eric took another bite of his granola bar and smirked a bit.

"What kind of match are we talking here?" He replied after swallowing his food.

"How about I put you in a No DQ match, against Randy Orton?" Carrano replied. Eric suddenly felt his eyes widen and his breathing grow shallow. He grew up watching Randy wrestle. And he knew he wouldn't be as easy as Cody was, especially in an No DQ match, where Randy had tons more experience, and was deadly in.

"You serious? If so, I accept the challenge, gladly." Eric replied, feeling his heart begin to race quickly. He felt a strange feeling of awareness come over him, wonder if he bit off more than he could chew this time. Carrano smiled at Eric's reply.

"Excellent. If anything comes up with that, I shall let you know personally." Carrano said and shook hands with Eric again and then went back the direction he came from.

Eric then walked to the locker room he had been assigned to, and stepped inside.

"What have I got myself into this time?" Eric said to himself, as he sat down on the bench where his stuff was placed. Carefully he slipped his boots off and sprayed them so they didn't stink.

"Do something bad?" A deep, masculine voice said to Eric. He the felt his heart drop, and his pulse quicken. He turned around and saw the man he would be facing next week on RAW, The Viper, Randy Orton.

"Holy shit you scared me! I didn't think anyone else was in here." Eric replied in shock. Randy chuckled lightly, slipping his shirt on. Eric was amazed at how chisled Randy was, he looked down at himself feeling like he was only cut from stone, and his abs not finished being toned.

"Apologies. Allow me to introduce myself, Randy Orton." He said sitting down across from Eric, finishing tying his boots.

"Pleasure to finally meet you. Eric Valentine. I grew up watching you wrestle. Incredible matches. Especially those with Undertaker." Eric replied, wiping the sweat from his head.

He couldn't believe he was sitting across, let alone speaking to the man he had found inspiration in. Randy smiled. "Thanks. I saw your match with Cody, most impressive how you made short work of him. Not an easy feat." Randy stated in reply, putting his arms in his lap and leaning over. Eric felt his blood begin to rush, but he knew he'd have to keep his calm.

"I also heard about your credentials. Longest reign as NXT Champion. Certainly not easy with all the talent that is present." Randy firmly stated. Eric smiled lightly.

"Not the easiest thing indeed. Especially when you face the likes of Cory Graves, Mojo Rawley, and my friend Sami Zayn." He retorted kindly.

"Very nice Eric." Randy said, "So, tell me about yourself." Eric suddenly dropped his cleaning brush he used on his boots. He couldn't believe Randy wanted to know more about him.

"Well, I am 23 years old. Born in the month of January, 2nd day, in the year 1990. I come from a family where they frowned on wrestling. But I pursued it regardless. Had the support of my brothers and my sisters all the way through. You can say I was a rebel inside, but down to earth and respectful to all who show me the same kindness and respect." Eric replied to Randy's question. He had to catch his breath after spewing out so much info.

"Must of been an interesting childhood for you. I trust I don't need to give you my backstory huh?" He asked.

"Well I know your dad is Cowboy Bob Orton, you asked him to be a wrestler. He helped with your training. You also had a short career in the Marine Corp, which I don't feel like digging into.

You were one of the youngest wrestlers to win a title belt, and you are just a genuine, all around kind of guy." Randy sat with an impressed look on his face.

"Someone must of watched my biography." He said chuckling. Eric laughed too, though he oddly felt like a stalker having known all that information.

"Well Eric, I hope we can be good friends, after all you seem like someone who I would associate with and hang out with quite a bit. See you around." He said, getting up and leaving the locker room. Eric sat stunned. He still couldn't believe what he just witnessed and heard.

Quickly he changed out of his ring gear, slipped on a fresh pair of boxer briefs, ankles socks, his favorite blue jeans, a plain blue shirt, his black Atreyu jacket and his black and silver Nikes. Carefully folding his ring gear and placing it in his duffle bag, he was ready to fly out to his next destination.

His phone beeped loudly as he exited the locker room. Juggling his baggage, he checked it and saw it was Carrano.

"Hello Carrano. How can I help you?"

"Eric, glad you picked up. So your match for next week is good to go. You will fly out to Boston tomorrow, that's where we will be for RAW. Any questions?"

"None at all. Thanks Carrano."

Eric hung up his phone and walked onwards, to the parking lot in the back where his car was parked. He drove a blue Honda Fit, which had a killer sound system installed.

Putting his luggage in his trunk, he closed the trunk and went to the driver side door.

Before he could open it, he heard a noise behind him. Quickly he turned around and saw a dark figure, about three feet from him. "Shit. Please don't make me have to hurt you." Eric said to the person. Suddenly the figure became lit by the street lamp above them, it was Sami.

"You wouldn't hurt me now would you pal?" He said laughing. Eric rolled his eyes.

"You know better than to do that stuff man." Eric replied opening his car door and throwing his sling backpack into the passenger seat.

"Just thought I'd come say bye before you left, since I will still be here in Florida and you are onto the next big adventure." Sami said full of excitement. He was proud of his friend for all the accomplishment he has achieved. Eric laughed.

"Thanks Sami. Hope you can join the main roster soon. We need to have a good match together." Eric replied to Sami.

"Well let's hope the future is good. See you later Eric." They both gave each other friendly hugs, and they parted ways. As Eric began to drive back to the hotel room, with one of his favorite Atreyu albums blasting, he smiled again and felt a calm wash over him. His life was great and he had one of the greatest friends he could ever ask for in Sami.

"This life starts, with a heart beat." Eric sang loudly and as well as he could. He knew he wasn't a good singer when the music was loud or he wasn't putting the effort forth, but he still had fun.

Suddenly his phone began to ring. Pausing the song, he activated the Bluetooth feature on his stereo, and transferred the call through.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Eric, it's Randy."

Eric wanted to slam on the brakes and stop, but he hadn't made it to the hotel yet, and he was still fifteen minutes away. Eric breathed slowly and exhaled.

"Randy. Pleasent surprise to hear from you. Question though, who gave you my number?"

He asked curiosity dripping in his voice. He heard Randy laugh.

"You actually left a piece of paper with your number on it in the locker room. The one with a little cartoony snake?"

Eric felt embarrassed. He drew that when he was bored trying to design his logo.

"Well shit, that's funny. So what can I do for you?"

"Just wanted to see what you were up to. Maybe you'd like to meet up for a coffee later? Maybe tomorrow?"

Eric felt awkward, he felt like Randy was asking him on a date. He was bi sexual, but he didn't let a lot of people known this for fear of criticism. Only Sami knew. And as far as Eric knew, Randy had a girlfriend.

"How kind of you Mr. Orton. Can I raincheck for now? I am flying out to Boston tomorrow for the next RAW." Eric replied to Randy, eyes glued to the road and getting closer to the hotel.

Randy chuckled lightly.

"Well just so happens tomorrow I am flying out to Boston too. So no you can't."

"Oh well that's interesting. How about after we land tomorrow?"

"Deal. Talk to you later."

Eric hung up and turned his music back on, and lowered the volume. He pulled into the front of the hotel and had the valet park it. Checking back in, he made his way to his room. Exhausted he quickly opened he door, shut it behind him, dropped his luggage and quickly stripped down to his underwear. He grabbed his night shorts from his backpack and slipped them on. Going into the bathroom he washed his face and brushed his teeth. Feeling freshened up, he went to plug his tablet in and got his charger plugged in for his phone underneath the night stand.

He jumped on the bed and checked his phone, he had two texts, one from Sami and the other from Randy.

Sami's text read as such,

"Hey Eric. Just wanted to make sure you made it to the hotel safe and sound. Hope you have a good rest of the night."

Eric smiled and looked at the time, it was almost 11:30 PM, it was about to get some sleep. Before that he opened up Randy's text.

"I do hope I am not harassing you. Just wanted to say thanks for accepting my invitation, and that you really are a neat guy for someone so young. See you tomorrow."

Eric smiled gently and closed out the messaging app and plugged his phone in.

"I hope I don't end up falling for him. That's the last thing I need. I mean I just broke up with Kara a week ago. No, I need to focuse on myself for now."

Eric said to himself, pulling the covers back and settling himself in the bed. He pulled the covers forwards and sighed heavily and shut the lamp on the night stand off.

He closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, getting his much needed sleep for tomorrow.


End file.
